Invincible
by Writing in SIN
Summary: It's the New Year and he's here, looking at Emu with a dancing heart. They are alive and they are together. And in this moment, Parad swears, they are invincible.


**SUMMARY**: It's the New Year and he's here, looking at Emu with a dancing heart. They are alive and they are together.

And in this moment, Parad swears, they are invincible.

* * *

They're on the hospital rooftop, waiting for the last minutes of 2019 together.

Years together have soften the edges of any rocky beginnings between them all (surprisingly enough, even Genm). It's been a long road; full of hurdles and hardships. But it's also full of plenty of good as well; moments and memories shared that are irreplaceable and in a few minutes, it'll really be 20 years since the Y2K event. Funny how it was the end and the beginning of things for all those involved with CR.

"If we don't hurry, they're gonna leave for the shrine without us," Parad reminds his partner standing beside him.

Emu blinks away from the glittering city under them and turns to give him a sheepish grin. "Actually, I told everyone that we'd meet them there."

"...eh?" Parad squints at Emu, head tilting to the side. "How come?"

Emu takes a step closer to brush his lips against Parad's own before pulling back to give him a sweet smile. "Wanted to greet the New Year with just the two of us first. It's...different than usual, yeah?"

"That it is," he agrees, eyes softening and dipping down to slot their mouths together again, an arm around Emu's waist while the doctor cups his jaw.

It's been ten months since he and Emu entered a committed relationship, and Parad has never been more thankful for the blessing that he's so fortunately given— to love and to be loved back by Emu in every way possible is honestly nothing short of a miracle for him.

Once they break apart, Emu fishes out the Double X and Hyper Muteki gashats from his pockets, shaking them slightly with a grin. "Fly with me?"

Laughing, he nods and lets both of their visions bleed. "Of course!"

Grin widening, Emu presses down the gashats in his hands and Parad sees their visions morph into their respective XX colours with a ring of gold surrounding their pupils.

As the years go by, they've also discovered a plethora of powers and abilities together— the day they found out that they can fly had been one of the best days _ever._

Offering his hand, he smiles as Emu takes it and intertwines their fingers together before they take a running start towards the edge of the roof; laughing and whooping as they jump off.

High up in the inky blackness of the last moments of the year—

They fall.

Parad hears the wind roaring in his ears as they plunge down uncontrollably fast. Grinning wide, he twists slightly to hug Emu close as they speed downwards. Emu reaches a hand up to cradle his cheek with a breathless smile on his face. Laughing, Parad tilts his head to press closer, closer before Emu's other hand grasps the back of his head to close the distance between them, pressing their lips together in a free-falling kiss.

_You're me and I'm you, and we're—_

_**Us.**_

They _rise._

With smiles on their faces, they shoot up to the skies with hands clasped tight between them. It's always a marvel to watch the way the ground growing farther and farther away from them as they soar high up into the heavens with millions of lights sprawling out below.

Together, they venture higher until the air gets thinner and Parad can feel the wetness of clouds pressing upon his face. When they pass above the clouds, they stop to hover weightlessly in the air. Aside from the distant rumble, there is only the wind whispering in his ear as the rest of the sky around them lays empty, crisp and cool and gentle; a three-dimensional living accompaniment.

How fortunate he is to be alone with the person he loves most on the cusp of the New Year.

"It's almost here," Emu murmurs, his fingers gently squeezing Parad's.

Hearing Emu flushed with excitement and anticipation, Parad glances over and feels his heart dance at the look on Emu's face.

Eyes reflecting the moon above, Emu is breathtakingly gorgeous as his lips are set into an excited grin while his windswept hair whips around his face in a way that makes him look ethereal.

"I love you," he murmurs to the air and starts when Emu glances over to him with a besotted grin.

Emu floats closer, kissing him and murmurs against his lips. "As I love you, Parad."

Ah~ if he's not careful, Parad is sure he'll float away because of the lightness bursting within his heart. It doesn't matter how many times Emu says it, it still sends a happy jolt through him.

"You are _so_ gorgeous, you know that?" When he chokes on a laugh, Emu huffs with a blushing smile. "What? It's true."

He hums and lures Emu closer through the air. "To me, that word fits you far better."

"And what does that make you?" Emu asks with laughing eyes, blush darkening.

Cradling a cool cheek, he leans down to place a lingering kiss on Emu's forehead. "Lucky."

The bond flares as he suffuses it with all of the love and devotion he has for this amazing human and feels Emu starts in surprise.

Emu blinks up at him, eyes glistening before the doctor smiles with so much love that it still bowls him over even after all these years. "So am I."

They're poised amongst clouds as easily as if they're standing toe to toe on the ground, clothes billowing around them. Parad takes this chance to sift his free hand through Emu's hair, stroking it away from his face to better see it in the soft moonlight.

"Race you," Emu whispers, bringing a hand up to stroke Parad's jaw with a challenging smirk.

Matching that smirk, he leans their foreheads together. "You're on."

Then without warning, Emu gives him a playful shove and slips out of his hold with a laugh worthy of a teenager, and when the world stops spinning and Parad recovers his balance, Emu is gone.

It only takes a second to find the doctor up ahead, a dark smudge racing away against the backdrop of inky sky and stars. Chuckling, Parad gives chase.

Their laughter fills the dark horizon as they chase each other; soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky as their bond sings and dances with joy. They leave trails in the clouds, spell out their names, falling and catching one another as they rise higher into the heavens.

At the right moment, Parad darts forward with a smirk and cuts Emu off at the swell of a turn and captures the doctor in his arms. Twirling them together, he revels in the sound of Emu's breathless laughter and joins in; feeling incredibly happy and blessed.

Parad rests his head against the top of Emu's, closing his eyes so that he can just focus on the scent of him.

Shifting in his arms, Emu checks his wristwatch. "Just in time for the countdown."

"Sweet." Leaning over, he cradles Emu's wrist and together they take in the final seconds of the year ticking down. "Five seconds~!"

Emu laughs. "Four!"

"Three!" They grin at each other. "Two!"

A hand snakes up and cups the back of Parad's head and he's leaning down even before Emu's gentle push.

"One," they whisper against each other's lips before closing the gap between them for their first kiss of the New Year.

Their kiss is gentle and fierce like always and in a heartbeat, Parad is no longer cradling Emu in his arms as Emu is up alongside him instead, kissing him ferociously and taking his breath away as the bond thrums happily, beckoning them back into their singularity.

_BOOM!_

They break apart in surprise and look directly below them.

"Whoa..." they breath in unison, shocked, awed and exhilarated all at once.

They have front row seats for the New Year's fireworks. How cool is _that?_

An exceptionally loud roar from below precedes a shrill before a blazing web of brilliant red fire erupts around them with a _bang!_

If they were anyone else, they would've been alarmed at the fact that they're literally in the center of sparks and fire. But they are Houjou Emu and Parad; Ex-Aid and Para-DX— and together, they are invincible.

So they stay as they are, watching awestruck by such beauty as the next firework explodes one after another, until they're closed in on all sides by burning trails of coloured flame that dance and swim through the sky. It's surreal. Beautiful. Vibrant streaks of colour cascade around them, one after the other after another; the brilliant lights splash across the sky in alternating waves of color in a dance of blooming patterns.

It should've been deafening and downright dangerous but their combined powers protect them from any harm as the fireworks wrap and surround them harmlessly; illuminating the clouds in blurry bursts of sparks and fire, crackling close to them and yet not once they are afraid.

Not when they're together.

Still...despite the amazing display, Parad knows that it will never compare to the beloved human in his arms.

Parad turns back to see Emu with light caressing his visage. The doctor is breathtaking; honest eyes stunning above flushed cheekbones and the sweetest, softest mouth turning up into an elated grin that outshines even the brightest of stars, just for Parad. Emu shimmers beneath the flashing kaleidoscope of lights and the heat that cocoons them, smiling up at Parad like he is the only one Emu sees despite the ongoing display around them.

"Happy New Year." Emu cups his face, eyes glimmering as tears well up in his eyes. "Thank you for being born, Parad."

It's only because of their bond and combined powers that he can even hear (_feel_) the words; ringing louder than the fireworks ever could and his eyes burn in response before he leans in and feels Emu's lips gently encase his own.

"Happy New Year, Emu," he whispers when they break apart, smile threatening to split his face in two as tears stream down his face. "Thank you for everything."

Parad used to think that his creation and eventual birth on Y2K was a mistake; an abomination and a freak of science and nature. But the years and the people he cares about and in turn, who cares for him back, have shown and taught him otherwise.

Now, he can honestly say that he's very thankful that he's alive.

With fire and gold in their eyes that shine brighter than the fireworks and the stars combined, Parad cups Emu's face in his hands and feels Emu mirroring him. They laugh and smile because they can— because it's New Year's day and they feel infinite.

And then they're kissing again, holding each other close with their mouths tasting of smoke and gunpowder on the tip of their tongues as waves of warmth wash across their bodies from both the kiss and smouldering ribbons of fire that surround them as they return to their singularity.

The bond spirals and crashes and rises as their shared soul resonates between them. Unrestrained; he feels every bit of Emu's emotions as well as his own.

Two bodies. Two hearts. Two minds.

One soul.

"I love you, Parad," Emu murmurs, breath catching as he wraps their bond around them and cradles him close.

It's his turn to feel his breath catch and he curls around Emu, feeling infinitely safe and loved.

"As I love you, Emu," he whispers, holding Emu tight.

It's 2020; exactly 20 years have passed since the event that once brought the world a wave of hysteria. In that time, so much has happened and they've all since become stories and memories. Seasons change, people have come and gone. In one way or another, everyone has made history— some good and some bad. Parad has learned that life is fleeting for everyone, no matter who or what they are.

For him and Emu, they've had to go through countless of hardships to get to where they are now— no longer the tragedy that they used to be.

It's the New Year and he's here, looking at Emu with a dancing heart. They are alive and they are together.

And in this moment, Parad swears, they are _invincible._


End file.
